


Ice Skates and Diplomacy

by almaia



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Political RPF, Political RPF - Korean 21st c., Political RPF - UK 20th-21st c.
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 13:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18345005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almaia/pseuds/almaia
Summary: During a state visit to South Korea, Theresa and Philip May are given a tour around Pyeongchang and in the process, they get ice skating lessons from an Olympic Champion.





	Ice Skates and Diplomacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LalasDreamLand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LalasDreamLand/gifts).



> This fanfiction was a result of a conversation I had with LalasDreamLand, and this fanfiction was also inspired by Buzzfeed Multiplayer's "Regular People Try Figure Skating (With Kristi Yamaguchi)". I hope you all enjoy this fanfiction!
> 
> Disclaimer: The contents of this work are purely fictional even if it involves real-life people and some real-life events. No political bias and no disrespect are intended by this work.

“Behold, the Gangneung Ice Arena – venue of the figure skating event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.” Moon Jae-in, the President of South Korea announced as he and his wife, Kim Jung-sook guided their guests into the ice arena.

“Quite impressive.” Theresa May, the British Prime Minister commented as she and her husband, Philip May, made their way into the ice arena as well, “How long did it take to construct this?”

“Two years.” Jae-in replied, “Construction started in 2014 and ended in 2016.”

“Well, to be fair, this rink opened two years ahead of schedule.” Theresa commented, “Considering that it was made for the purpose of the 2018 Winter Olympics.”

“That’s something we’re actually proud of.” Jae-in stated, “We managed to more or less, have all venues ready in time for the games.”

Theresa and Philip were currently in South Korea for Theresa’s state visit and one of the state visit’s activities is a tour to Pyeongchang, the venue of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“If you two are still wondering what we’re doing here.” Jung-sook told Theresa and Philip, “We’re not just going to give you two a tour around this ice rink, you two are getting skating lessons as well.”

“We’re getting what?!?” Philip asked out of shock. Earlier on, he and Theresa had been briefed that the day is to be spent for them to tour around Pyeongchang, the venue of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Skating lessons wasn’t anywhere in the plan.

“Skating lessons, Philip.” Jae-in said, “You and Theresa are getting skating lessons. Consider it our treat.”

“I mean Philip and I can balance on ice skates well.” Theresa told Jae-in and Jung-sook, “But in terms of how good we skate, Torvill and Dean are far better than we’ll ever be.” She added, referring to the British ice dancers who became European, World and Olympic champions during the 1980s.

“Well you two have a good basic foundation in skating, then.” Jung-sook told Theresa, “Without further ado, Jae-in and I would like to introduce you to your skating coach for the day. The one and only Kim Yuna!”

And just like that, Kim Yuna made her way from the far end of the ice skating rink down to the end of the rink where Jae-in and Jung-sook stood with Theresa and Philip.

“Hello!” Kim Yuna, South Korea’s record-breaking Olympic figure skater said, “I’m Kim Yuna and the President and the First Lady have asked me to teach you both some moves. Are you up for that?”

Theresa and Philip looked at each other in silence, with Philip swearing that if he and Theresa said yes, the next few minutes would be of him hanging on to his dear life on the sidelines of the ice rink trying not to slip in front of the President of South Korea, the First Lady of South Korea and an Olympic figure skater.

“Yes, we’re up for that.” Theresa said in a “let’s get on with this” tone.

“Like what she said, yes we’re up for that!” Philip said as well in a somewhat hesitant tone.

Then, Jae-in and Jung-sook led Theresa and Philip to the counter in the ice arena where the ice skates are displayed. Then, an attendant asked for their shoe sizes and when that was done, she gave them their ice skates which they laced in. Once that was done, Theresa and Philip made their way back to the skating rink where Yuna is waiting for them.

“Okay then, we’re going to start with spins.” Yuna announced as Jae-in and Jung-sook took their seats on the bleachers just outside the rink, “This one is called a basic one-foot spin.”

Yuna then demonstrated a basic one-foot spin to Theresa and Philip. To achieve this spin, Yuna rotated with one foot on ice as she positioned her arms in an open position.

“Well, that looks easy.” Theresa said as she looked at Yuna spin gracefully.

“I’m sure neither of us would fall off, right?” Philip asked Theresa, wondering if they could both pull off the spin without slipping.

“Alright then, would you two like to give it a try?” Yuna asked Theresa and Philip enthusiastically.

“Sure.” Theresa and Philip said in unison.

Theresa tried the basic one-foot spin and while her legs were a bit shaky, from the fact that she isn’t normally used to doing spins on ice, she was able to make a slow but stable spin – and fortunately, she didn’t slip.

“Bravo!” Philip said proudly while clapping as Theresa posed right after doing the basic one-foot spin.

Philip tried the basic one-foot spin next, his legs were a bit shaky as well, to the point that he could slip if he didn’t concentrate enough. His spin was a slow but stable one, and like Theresa, he was fortunate enough not to fall.

“Nice!” Theresa said proudly while clapping as Philip posed right after doing the basic one-foot spin.

“Well, for the next move, I’m going to show you two how to do a bunny hop.” Yuna announced.

“Didn’t we use to do bunny hop jumps when we went out on ice skating dates?” Philip whispered to Theresa, “This must be easy, right?”

“I think we can pull that one off really well.” Theresa told Philip, “I mean we’ve done that many times when we used to have ice skating dates. This shouldn’t be difficult for us to do.”

Yuna then demonstrated a bunny hop jump, explaining to Theresa and Philip how it is done.

“So, all you have to do is kick up.” Yuna said, kicking up afterwards, “and then you glade.” She added as she gladed on ice with one foot.

“Let’s give it a try then, shall we?” Theresa asked Philip.

Philip nodded in agreement and both Theresa and Philip decided to do the bunny hop together, side-by-side like they used to when they still got to go on ice skating dates. Fortunately, the both of them nailed this figure skating move as well.

“Great job!” Yuna told Theresa and Philip while clapping after they finished doing the bunny hop.

“Now, this is the fun part,” Yuna told Theresa and Philip, “The pivot!”

“I’m sure this is the part where one of them wobbles on the rink, if they don’t concentrate well enough.” Jung-sook whispered to her husband, Jae-in.

“Yes, the pivot.” Jae-in told Jung-sook, “I still remember when we tried learning that move. Took us a few tries before we could do it without falling off.”

“Theresa and Philip did say they had learned the basic fundamentals of ice skating.” Jung-sook told Jae-in, “However, spins and jumps are more of a figure skating thing than recreational ice skating.”

“Doesn’t mean that they have the chance to pull it off, though.” Jae-in told Jung-sook, “But let’s see what happens.”

“For this move, you put the toe pick in the ice. In my case, I’m using my right foot.” Yuna said, demonstrating afterwards what she just said by putting the toe using her right foot on the ice, “And you’re just gonna let your other foot travel around the pivot point, which in my case is where my right foot is on, like how a draft compass moves when you draw a circle with it.”

Then, Yuna started turning on ice in a motion similar to those of a draft compass when one draws a circle using it. She did it with such grace that Theresa and Philip could not help but watch in awe.

“You know what, I’m going to give that a try!” Theresa announced.

“Great!” Yuna said, “Show us what you’ve got, Prime Minister!”

Theresa glided on the ice, and started to do the pivot, using her right foot to put the toe pick on the ice, and then afterwards, she started turning on ice just as Yuna did earlier on. At first, her turn was a bit slow, which she intended to do so that she would be able to get a hang of the figure skating move and not fall off. Moments later, she started picking up speed and kept turning for a few moments – after which, she stopped with a pose.

“How was it?” Theresa asked.

“That was amazing, love!” Philip said proudly.

“I agree with your husband, you did amazing.” Yuna told Theresa.

“Would you like to give it a try, love?” Theresa asked Philip.

“Yeah, sure.” Philip said, hoping that his attempt wouldn’t result to him falling off the rink.

Philip glided on the ice, and started to do the pivot. Rather than using his right foot, he used his left foot to put the toe pick on the ice and then started to turn on ice just as Yuna did earlier on. He started his turn slowly and later on picked up speed – except as he kept turning, he started to wobble on the ice.

“Help!” Philip shouted as he tried to regain balance.

“I’m coming!” Theresa said as she glided towards her husband.

Theresa then helped Philip back on an upright position, holding both of his hands with both of her own hands to ensure that he wouldn’t wobble again.

“Are you two alright?” Yuna asked out of concern.

“We’re fine!” Theresa told Yuna, “Don’t worry about us.”

“Told you one of them was going to wobble!” Jung-sook told Jae-in from the bleachers.

“Well at least none of them fell off!” Jae-in told Jung-sook.

“Fair enough.” Jung-sook said as she and Jae-in brought their attention back to the skating rink.

“Well, I guess we can call it a day now.” Yuna said as she finished teaching Theresa and Philip some figure skating moves, “And I’m impressed that you both are good sports.”

“Thank you, really!” Theresa told Yuna, “Getting taught how to do figure skating moves by an Olympic champion is an experience we’ll forever treasure!”

“I agree with Theresa.” Philip told Yuna.

“In fact, seeing how you patiently dealt with us today.” Theresa told Yuna, “I think we should bring you to the United Kingdom to coach our national team. Having you as their coach would really help them a lot in improving their craft as figure skaters.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Yuna said with a smile, “I might actually consider coming over to your country to coach the figure skaters there.”

“You’re more than welcome to visit the UK anytime!” Theresa told Yuna.

Just then, Jae-in and Jung-sook went down from the bleachers and put on their ice skates. Then, they entered the skating rink, gliding perfectly.

“Just so that you two will know,” Yuna told Theresa and Philip, “You two aren’t the first world leaders whom I’ve given skating lessons to. I gave the President and the First Lady lessons as well, because they wanted to incorporate figure skating into their fitness routine.”

“That’s interesting.” Theresa said.

“And before we continue this tour around Pyeongchang, allow Jung-sook and I to present you this little skating program that we put together.” Jae-in said, after which, he and Jung-sook assumed on their starting positions.

Gangnam Style by PSY then started to blare on the speakers of the ice arena much to the shock of Theresa and Philip and to the amusement of Yuna.

“It took us six months to come up with this.” Yuna told Theresa and Philip, “Just as your state visit to this country became official, we started training to put together this little presentation for the both of you.”

“I hope this isn’t a parody of Ed Balls’ performance in Strictly.” Theresa said as she watched Jae-in and Jung-sook dance on the ice rink.

“It’s better than that.” Yuna told Theresa.

Theresa and Philip then watched in awe as Jae-in and Jung-sook made their spins, which were far more complicated than what they were taught earlier. In addition to deploying spins, Jae-in and Jung-sook also incorporated ice dance moves into their program.

When the performance ended, Theresa and Philip simply applauded for Jae-in and Jung-sook as they looked at them in shock. They couldn’t believe the amount of skill that they had in figure skating. Though it’s considered basic in the eyes of Olympic figure skating analysts, but nevertheless, it is already considered exceptional in recreational ice skating standards. Most of all, they can’t believe that Jae-in and Jung-sook chose to skate to Gangnam Style of all possible songs that one could figure skate in. But hey, at least the next time they hear of the song, it won’t be Ed Balls’ hilarious dancing skills that they would be thinking of anymore.

“I thought you Brits liked Gangnam Style.” Jae-in said, noticing that Theresa and Philip looked at him and his wife in shock.

“I think they like BTS now.” Jung-sook told Jae-in.

“We’ve got nothing against your figure skating skills, to be honest.” Theresa told Jae-in and Jung-sook, “The music choice just seems to be interesting. In the UK, the song got well known because of Ed Balls who has rather hilarious dancing skills.”

“Oh yes, Ed Balls.” Jung-sook said, “ Jae-in and I remember watching him dance to Gangnam Style. It never fails to make us both laugh.”

“We may have turned him into a national treasure also because of that.” Theresa told Jae-in, “The other reason being the fact that he once tweeted his own name by accident when Twitter first became popular.”

“Well, that Ed Balls fellow sounds much funnier now.” Jung-sook commented.

“Next time you two come over here,” Jae-in told Theresa and Philip, “Jung-sook and I will be skating to a song from BTS, which is also Jung-sook’s favoruite Korean boy band.”

“We’re looking forward to it.” Theresa and Philip said in unison.

“Now, let’s continue with our tour around Pyeongchang.” Jae-in announced.

The trip to the Gangneung Ice Arena is only the first half of their tour around Pyeongchang but Theresa and Philip were already enjoying their tour, especially because they’ve got such entertaining and informative tour guides in the person of Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung-sook.


End file.
